Heartbeat Braves

by Pamela Sanderson

  Back in the van, Jack said, “There’s a place another nine miles east of here that has a gym and a pool.”

  “Nine miles? Is it the same time zone? How does it look if we cut back on eating and put a little more toward rent, what does that get us?”

  Jack reset the app and directed Henry to another neighborhood. They drove up to a shabby building with dirty windows and faded paint. The door to the laundry room was off the hinges and leaning against a wall.

  “Easy access to laundry in well-ventilated space,” Jack said.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised to learn someone has been murdered there. Is it too much to ask to find an affordable place that isn’t tiny and grim? What are your ideas?”

  “Being born into a family with more money comes to mind,” Jack said. “It won’t help you, but the guys said I can stay with them. The couch smells like farts, and I have to wait until everyone goes to bed before I can sleep on it. But they said I can have it as long as I throw in for groceries and utilities. That might be the best I can hope for at the moment.”

  Henry studied his friend and tried to think of a time when they weren’t stuck between a terrible option and an undesirable choice. “I can’t afford to live by myself.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you. We knew we were riding on borrowed time in the current hellhole.”

  “No one told me that,” Henry said.

  “It wasn’t obvious?”

  “No,” Henry said, even though it wasn’t true. He wanted to kick himself for not being prepared for something like this.

  “I have no financial solutions,” Jack said. “I have to go back to the pizza delivery thing as soon as I can get the green car running. I don’t even have money for that. I’m kinda stuck here. My family can’t get me a fancy-pants job like yours can.”

  “Don’t start that. I didn’t ask for the fancy-pants job. I didn’t have any choice. As you know, we need the money. It doesn’t make sense to turn it down. I can give you a couple hundred bucks for your car if it helps.”

  “That didn’t come out right,” Jack said. “I’m not fishing for your money and I’m not mad. I don’t have the same choices you do. You’re better off trying to find your own place without me. How is the fancy-pants job going, anyway?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not a good fit.”

  “I thought it was all Indians,” Jack said.

  “What does that have to do with it?” Henry said. “It’s an organization that figures out things that need to be done and then does them.”

  “You don’t plan to be there forever, right? At least you’re meeting a bunch of people. Networking. Maybe this will lead to something you want? Isn’t that how it works?”

  “Maybe. Everyone who works there is about as excited about my uncle giving me the fancy-pants job as you are. This other woman is super smart and hardworking and Arnie comes along and hands me her promotion.”

  “You don’t have to impress her. She’ll get over it.”

  “I thought I was networking. Besides, I want her to like me. She’s pretty fine.”

  “Is that why you took the job? Because of a girl?”

  “Maybe. She has her shit together in a way I can only dream of, and she knows how to figure things out. I like being in the same room with her.”

  “Good luck,” Jack said doubtfully. “You’re known for your smooth way with the ladies. No reason to think this will go differently.”

  Jack was being a smartass because Henry was known for his mannered approach to meeting women and the subsequent failure. He could get almost anyone to go out with him once or twice. There was that exotic factor. But forming relationships remained elusive.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, man. I invited her to the party this weekend. She says you guys aren’t a good fit for the arts festival so we’re going to show her that she’s wrong.”

  “Why wouldn’t we be a good fit? You said it’s for Ind’n performers.”

  “You can ask her that question when you meet her.”

  “Cool. We all going to truck over there together in the van?”

  Henry cringed. The band would have a front-row seat of his non-date with his beautiful crush. “Yeah, I guess. She hasn’t said yes yet.”

  “I promise we won’t make it awkward. Have you found any other potential gigs for us?”

  “Gigs? You’re thinking gigs? At this point wouldn’t a singular gig be a victory?”

  “How you doing booking us any number of gigs?”

  Henry hadn’t done anything since he talked to Pepe and Polly. “Doing this and that. It’s coming together.”

  “Sounds like you’re full of it, as usual,” Jack said. “Let’s go hit the dollar menu for dinner and go home.”

  20

  Arnie wished Linda would have called him sooner. He wasn’t sure what he could have done but if they were working together, she should have wanted him to know right away. He made a special trip into town so he could go to the center. As he came through the doors, Rayanne and Ester were following a couple of men rolling out unidentifiable contraptions.

  “Hallelujah!” Rayanne said, high-fiving Ester. They high-fived Arnie too. Henry watched them carry on.

  “Those things are dehumidifiers,” he explained. “They make a sound like giant bugs zooming next to your ear.”

  “I heard that droning sound in my sleep,” Ester said.

  “You here about the Chief?” Rayanne asked.

  Arnie nodded. He had expected more disorder but, other than a more-than-usual number of boxes stacked around the front desk, the office was running as usual.

  Linda came out and herded them all into the meeting room.

  Arnie followed last and took the chair at the front of the room.

  “Flood, famine or pestilence. What do you want first?” she asked him.

  “Do we have all those things?” Arnie asked.

  “Very well, I’ll start with flood. Remediation is finished. Damage to our stuff is minimal. The bad news is that the landlord needs to undertake some major repairs and wants us out. Thirty days maximum. Then we need to be over at the Chief.”

  “And what do they say?”

  “We’re getting nowhere,” Linda said. “Everyone I talk to transfers me to someone else until I end up in voice mail. No one has returned my calls. All email is either unanswered or I get a reply that has one of those mealy mouthed non-answers like, ‘First, let me apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced.’ Like they equate blowing off a building purchase with mishandling a noise complaint.”

  Arnie typed notes into his phone. “Who was your original contact on this?”

  “That’s the kicker. I found out he retired. I wondered if he wasn’t supposed to sell us the building so they got rid of him. No. Everyone knew he was retiring. Why didn’t they pass this information to us?”

  “I agree. Do you have other names or any sort of documentation that might help?”

  “Fortunately, I have documented everything within an inch of its life,” Linda said.

  “What do you think is going on?” Rayanne asked.

  “I don’t know. It sounds like you’ve done everything right,” Arnie said. “It’s got to be a communication error due to the retirement. We’ll set it right.”

  “So we can keep preparing to move and plan for the festival in a couple of weeks?” Rayanne asked.

  “Keep doing what you’re doing,” Arnie said. “We can always come up with an alternate site as a last resort.”

  “Alternate site? Have you ever planned an event?” Rayanne asked.

  “I thought Henry was in charge,” Arnie said.

  Rayanne didn’t try to hide her scowl. Henry sat next to her and patted her arm in a familiar way.

  Way to go, nephew.

  Arnie turned to Linda. “Pull together any information you have. Let’s go to City Hall.”

  “Right now?”

  “Sure,” Arnie said with a grin. “Some of my most effec
tive work has been accomplished by showing up where I wasn’t expected. It’s easy to ignore email and calls. Not so easy to ignore a friendly face at your office door.”

  “The building has security. We can’t wander around from door to door.”

  “Where is that unyielding woman I went to college with?” Arnie said. “Weren’t you the one who waited in the parking lot for an administrator who didn’t want to meet with you?”

  “I did. And I was lucky; that could have gone badly.”

  “But it didn’t, did it?”

  Arnie couldn’t help but be a hundred percent more confident in Linda now that he’d seen all the work she was doing. He should have known better than to doubt her. She carried a stack of paper secured with two large rubber bands. As soon as she sat in the car, she sorted through the paperwork, setting certain items aside.

  “Here’s my concern,” he explained. “These deals start out like this. Everything is positive. Everyone is working together. Then something happens. Who knows? Someone, one of them, asks a question so instead of moving to the next step, the deal gets held up. They need an attorney or an engineer. Then it sits on someone’s desk long enough that no one remembers it.”

  “I’d be lying if I said that I had never been the bad guy in a scenario like that,” Linda said.

  Arnie couldn’t help laughing. “Yeah. Me too. What would you call it? Disruption of the organizational flow?”

  “That is some varsity-level jargon right there.”

  “How’s everything else going?” He was curious about her personal life.

  She didn’t pick up on it. “Rayanne has pulled her head out of her butt and is helping Henry. They might have a little crush on each other and why not? We were lucky we didn’t lose anything to the water, but to be honest, there wasn’t much to lose. It’s hard not to expect some disaster, that we haven’t even thought of yet, might be on the way.”

  “Don’t think that thought,” Arnie said.

  When they arrived at City Hall, they had to wait in the main lobby at security. The guard said they needed a guide to go beyond the barrier.

  Linda gave Arnie a triumphant look that said See?

  “Whose side are you on?” Arnie asked. He dropped the name of someone he knew in the mayor’s office. That guy was out but his assistant agreed to come down and speak to them.

  “You know what they need?” Linda said. “A tribally trained person. You know? There are so many issues with tribes in the area, and organizations like ours. A number of regional tribal organizations. What if they had someone who understands Indian Country, who could coordinate communication, and help advise?”

  “That would be great,” Arnie said. “It would be cool if Spiderman were real too.”

  “I don’t get the connection,” Linda said, but there was laughter in her eyes.

  The assistant who showed up turned out to be a twitchy young woman who, Arnie guessed, hadn’t been on the job long. A more experienced assistant would have assured them she’d leave a message with her boss and sent them on their way. He knew how to turn on the charm in situations like this.

  He explained the problem and pleaded for additional help. Arnie had seen people get what they wanted by being nasty. And he’d seen people get what they wanted by being nice. He’d also learned that playing up the Indian angle to people who weren’t familiar with tribal relations could sometimes work to his benefit.

  “This is a critical tribal issue. We’re not sure who else to talk to. Is there someone in charge of property issues? Realty? Lands?”

  The woman thought for a moment. “There’s a facilities management department. I’ll go up there and see if there’s anyone who can help.”

  “Thank you,” Arnie said. The woman did know what she was doing. She would send a message back. They would never see her again.

  He and Linda sat down on a bench in the lobby. Linda balanced the paperwork on her lap.

  “Do you want me to find you a coffee or something?” he asked.

  “If I have one more sip of coffee I will explode,” she said.

  “Don’t explode,” Arnie said. He took out his phone to check for messages, as if perhaps the mayor’s office might respond that way.

  Linda looked down the hallway where the woman had disappeared. “She’s not coming back, is she?” Linda said. The fight had gone out of her. Whatever optimism she’d held when they’d set out, had vanished since they entered the building.

  Arnie put his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t give up, Lulu. I need you not to give up.” A short time later, he spotted the assistant coming back out through security. She approached them with a smile on her face.

  “Yay, I was wrong,” Linda said. “This could be promising.”

  The assistant handed Arnie a business card. “The meeting to finalize everything is next week. Room 2112. Someone will email you the details.”

  Arnie took the card. Room 2112 had been written on the back. “Are you Kayla?” he asked, his heart sinking.

  She nodded.

  “This is great,” Linda said. She shifted the wad of papers she dragged around into one arm so she could shake the young woman’s hand. “Thank you for your help.” She nudged Arnie and gave him an elated smile. “Next week.”

  “Who’s the meeting with?” Arnie asked.

  The assistant’s bright smile hadn’t faded. “All the information you need will be in the email.”

  “Thanks, Kayla,” Arnie said. As they walked out, he didn’t point out that they still didn’t have a name. They didn’t know who they were dealing with. He hoped he was wrong but he didn’t think they’d fixed anything yet.

  21

  Henry cornered Rayanne on Friday afternoon. “You still haven’t given me an answer on the party tonight.”

  Rayanne looked surprised. “I thought evading the question was answer enough.”

  “Do you have other plans?”

  She shrugged.

  “Come on. You can’t judge until you’ve been to a show. Visually there’s not a lot going on, they mostly stand there and play,” Henry said. “But the sound will win you over. I’m already going. It’s no trouble to bring you.”

  “Don’t you have to drive the band? Isn’t that what the giant party-van is all about?”

  “There are people out there who would envy you the opportunity to joyride with the Beat Braves,” Henry said.

  “How many people?”

  “No way to be certain.”

  “I don’t know,” Rayanne said. “It doesn’t sound like my thing.”

  “Live music with tasty beats is everyone’s thing. And these guys are doing something different. They are one hundred percent native and one hundred percent rock and roll.”

  “So they’re two hundred percent?”

  “Exactly,” Henry said. “That’s the best. I’ll take you home early if you hate it.”

  “I won’t hate it. I don’t like things where I don’t know anyone.”

  “No one likes things where they don’t know anyone,” Henry said. “But these are our friends and once the music starts, everyone will be your friend.”

  Henry couldn’t stop begging. He wanted to spend time with her and dance with her. He wanted to show her off to the guys. And he wanted her to like the idea of the band at the festival.

  “It’s not like a date. It’s business,” Henry said. “In case you were worried about that.”

  “Now I am,” Rayanne said. He could tell he hadn’t convinced her. What else could he throw in? “You can give us advice on apartment hunting.”

  “Well, in that case.”

  “Really? Will you go?”

  “I guess. Don’t make me regret it.”

  “You won’t. We’ll pick you up at nine.” Henry didn’t try to hide his stupid grin.

  Other than Jack, there were two other guys in the band. Cody was a big guy from Colville Reservation who played guitar. Cody liked motorcycles and working on his biceps. The bass player, Sam, w
as short and round and came from Lummi. He did some sort of technology job that Henry never quite understood. The rest of the music came from the computer. That’s what Jack did.

  On the drive to Rayanne’s house, the van shuddered at every red light.

  “You using the right kind of gas?” Sam asked.

  “I use the kind of gas that comes out of the pump,” Henry said. “What would you use?”

  “That same kind,” Sam said.

  “We’re picking up Henry’s girlfriend,” Jack said. “It’s their first date.”

  “Don’t call her that, even as a joke. She’ll freak out,” Henry said. “I like her but we’re working together. She says since we work together she only wants to be friends.”

  “When they say they want to be friends, that means they want to be friends,” Sam said. “I should know.”

  “She’s warming up to me. We shared a moment. Don’t embarrass me in front of her.”

  “That’s going to be tough,” Cody said.

  When Rayanne came out of the house, there was a collective inhale.

  “You were not kidding,” Jack said.

  Rayanne wore a short blue sundress with a pattern of feathers stamped at the hem and around the arms. Her hair was up and she had on long blue beaded earrings.

  “If you can’t date her, can I?” Sam said.

  “No. You, get in the back,” Henry said to Jack. “The rest of you act normal.”

  “What is normal for us?” Cody asked.

  “Okay, don’t act normal,” Henry said. “But no farting. No fart jokes.”

  “Got it,” Jack said. He hopped out of the van and held the passenger door open for her. “I’m Jack.”

  “Rayanne,” she said, all business. She took care getting into the van, mindful of keeping her skirt in the right place. Henry tried not to stare at her legs.

  “That’s Sam and Cody in the back,” he said.

  She turned around. “Hi, guys. There’s a joke about a van full of Indians in here somewhere, but I don’t know what it is yet.”